Excerpt from Raconteur
One silver lining for the beleaguered travel industry is that it has already adopted the kind of digital tech that should prepare it well for life after the pandemic.
Few industries have suffered more at the hands of Covid-19 than international travel, which ground to a halt in early 2020 as borders closed and millions of people were ordered to stay at home. Last year saw the sharpest annual decline in air traffic on record: passenger demand was down 65.9% on 2019’s total, according to the International Air Transport Association. The UN World Tourism Organization estimates that the economic impact on the industry in 2020 alone was $1tn (£710bn) – a loss that put about 120 million jobs at risk.
Even as economies have started to reopen in recent months, travel remains one of the last sectors to benefit from the easing of restrictions. Early in June 2021, operators were dismayed when the UK government downgraded Portugal to its so-called amber list at short notice (meaning that people returning from the country would need to quarantine at home for 10 days). The move forced thousands of British tourists who’d booked holidays in Portugal while it was on the green list to cut short their trips before the restrictions kicked in.
Although the travel industry might have sustained the biggest blow, it may be better equipped than most to recover from it. While businesses in several sectors have been obliged to spend millions of pounds on converting themselves quickly into ecommerce operations, at least travel hasn’t had that problem. The industry was undergoing its own digital transformation for several years before the pandemic.
For proof of its transformation, consider the decline of the high-street travel agent. According to a survey conducted in 2019 by online travel agency Kayak, 47% of British adults hadn’t set foot inside a travel agency for a decade. One-fifth of respondents had never used one at all – a figure that grew to one-third for under-35s. Instead, travellers have hundreds of online booking tools (OBTs) at their disposal.
Enabling consumers to arrange transport, accommodation and activities for themselves, often all in a one-stop shop, OBTs have developed to deliver greater convenience and choice at a lower cost. As a result, they’ve almost eradicated bricks-and-mortar travel agencies. Three-quarters of Brits booked their most recent trip online.
“The great shift to digital that occurred over the past decade has transformed the competitive landscape in travel, leisure and hospitality,” says Tim Davis, MD of Pace Dimensions, a management consultancy specialising in those sectors.
This transformation has since extended far beyond booking and payment, he adds. Almost all big airlines now offer a mobile check-in service, for instance, while many hotel chains have adopted keyless entry systems. Davis also points to the growth of loyalty schemes, which have in most cases been combined with mobile apps to give users access to enhanced services.
Click here to read complete article at Raconteur.